Posted on 06/23/2006 12:27:30 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
I am not certain what the legal ramifications would be in changing Free Republic from donations to a subscription service. It seems to me the switch may be detrimental to legal issues such as copyrights. If that is true I'd appreciate if someone could briefly explain that to me. However if that is not the case here is my suggestion:
I have been wondering about this for some time now and have not seen any discussions about it. So I would like to ask: Is it time for Free Republic to become an online subscription service?
Currently, the site is very antiquated. People can easily abuse the "add a keyword" feature and there seems to be a growing number of liberal trolls, foreigners and even pro-homosexual agenda-driven people infecting the site. In order to cut down on the undesirables and enhance FR at the same time, would it be advisable to start charging a monthly fee of about 15-30 bucks to be able to log into the site and post? There could also be different subscription levels like Basic, Premium or Platinum. That way, the more you pay the more features you have access to. Some of these extra-services could include storing photos or FR could be a conservative search engine for the web.
I have seen online sites where people can still read the boards for free. FR could do something like that so it would still be accessible to the Conservative public even if they are not paying members with posting priviledges.
Websites that rely heavily on banner and pop-up ads need as many hits as possible so for them restricting posting rights to subscribers might not be so desirable. However, Free Republic does not work like that. There are no ads other than some book links on the home page so the number of hits is not as crucial to the bottom line which is currently being paid for by donations.
Donations seem to be working well, but I am sure the cashflow could be improved. How many of you people honestly are put off donating money to FR because it is not what it should be? Especially in regards to the undesirable element that can be found throughout many of the threads. Wouldn't this change in format go a long way in eliminating the undesirables? I think so. Plus it would be neat to experience an upgraded more modern version of Free Republic.
Note: If you are a democrat troll, foreigner or pro-homosexual/lesbian then I am really not interested in your opinion and you should not be posting it to me (just the fact that I have to add this note is proof that something is not right).
There, I made that a little more clear, you are truely the "It's my ball and I'm going home" type.
Absolutely Not --LEAVE IT ALONE. That would totally change the carachter of the best site on the web. I hate it when new kids come to play our game cause it's so cool and as soon as we let them, they want to change the rules that made it so cool in the first place.
The only question is are you ahead or behind me in line? :)
[We have lots of great "foreigners" here. Mad Ivan for one.]
Don't forget about Atlantic Bridge. Some of our "foreigners" from Europe went through hell during the build up to the Iraq war, yet they are still stand and contributing.
Yes, at the new, alternative free site.
Amen.
Free Republic - No BOSS-MODE buttons required!
You better hope you are behind me, gators bite butt you know.
Three threads just today on that subject...
Does anyone still use the Yahoo site?
Subscription is a choice, tax in most cases is not
I agree. You'd hear crickets chirping if we went to a paid subscription service.
Oh and while I'm ranting.... Please don't hit abuse when you can't defend yourself, refute your argument on the thread, not to the moderators. We aren't going to fight your battles, unless it's way overboard.
Rest in peace Harry.
FR is also surprisingly tolerant -- perhaps not of trolls, but there's considerable diversity of opinion, considering that it is basically a conservative / Republican forum. (God help me, I almost wrote "Celebrate Diversity"?!?!)
I would expect FR's breadth and depth to contract, if only the folks willing to cough up a subscription fee were here.
America is great because, among other things, it is free.
FreeRepublic echoes the greatness of America for exactly the same reason.
Yeah, I know, intentionally conflating "free as in speech" with "free as in beer". So what? I like 'em both...
plus.. we wouldn't have use for the kitties anymore!
FR gets $5.00 a month from me, well worth it. If FR went subscription, then half the posters I like reading might not be here, and then FR wouldn't be worth my $5.00 so I'd be gone. Law of unintended consequences.
If your m.o. seems to attract stalkers, maybe you should stay off the internet a (long) while. Just a thought.
You don't seem to be happy here.
There's something to be said for institutional memory. Back in the day, anytime there was breaking news, the FR server would crash and we'd all have to head over to the bomb shelter on yahoo for some time. Yahoo is awful; it was be a step backward to try to emulate that over here.
Jim and John have done wonders upgrading FR over the years -- and it was all done on donated money.
The yahoo site is used when FreeRepublic is down, which is not nearly so much anymore. The yahoo format is an extramarital child.
Berlin,
I know it may sound silly, but I would rather give a good size donation of my own accord, than a single dime for subscription.
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